TRUE BELIEVERS IN ISLAM

Embrace Islam in the knowledge that it is the correct and best decision you have made about your life.

Embrace Islam with the aim of becoming a True Believer.

Love for a human being should never be the reason for embracing Islam.

Love for The One who created and sustains you should be the paramount reason for embracing Islam.

This love must be based on knowledge of Him, and must be sincere.

You must be prepared to sacrifice your cherished belongings to please The One you truly love. [3:92]

While your human love may not know of your “other love”, your Creator knows what is in your heart. Nothing is hidden from him.

Do not embrace Islam if you still wish to keep your “earlier love” of believing that created things such as talismans or pieces of string tied around your wrist can protect you.

If you persist with your belief in your “earlier love” after taking the shahadah, you are still not a Believer as you had not been sincere.

In declaring faith in Islam [shahadah], you are restoring your covenant with your Creator.

All human beings are born as Muslims but many ‘lose’ this blessing because of differences in upbringing.

Through the shahadah, you are reverting to your original status, and making a fresh start like a newborn that is free of sins.

By accepting Muhammad [pbuh] as the final Messenger of God, Christians embracing Islam are also accepting Jesus (“Isa”, pbuh) as a Messenger, and not “Son” of God.

By taking the shahadah, they are also rejecting the man-made concept of “Trinity” that divides God into Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Qur’an states that Allah The Exalted “is far above the need of having a son.” It commands, “stop saying three” for “Allah is only One God.” [4:171]

A person embracing Islam must have a clear knowledge of what distinguishes him or her from disbelievers in Islam.

There are many persons in the Arab world with Arabic names but they are not Muslims. Thus one is not a Muslim by one’s name.

A person is Muslim by birth but whether he continues to be one depends on upbringing.

Muslim is not a race. A Chinese becomes a Muslim when he takes the shahadah.

He ceases to be a Muslim if he renounces the shahadah but he still remains a Chinese.

Thus one is a Muslim by his or her acceptance of the shahadah that there is no god except Allah and Muhammad is His final Messenger.

The shahadah begins with these words: “I bear witness …”

A “witness” has ”knowledge” of what he or she is witnessing, and declares this knowledge without any doubt.

A Muslim witnesses that in the whole of the universe there is absolutely no being worthy to be worshipped except Allah.

Allah is The Supreme Being, and no one and nothing is associated with His Divinity.

Allah created the Universe and everything in it, determined the laws of their existence, and fixed specific life spans for everything.

The belief that there are multiple gods in the universe is a form of ignorance. The facts of life and nature do not support it. The universe is not a jumble of chaotic things. It is a flawless or perfect creation.

A perfect and expanding universe can exist only by the Will of One Supreme Being who is Infinite, Eternal, Perfect, All-Knowing and with limitless powers to create.

It is Him that we should bow in submission and adoration.

We are all in need of His favor and are obliged to seek His help.

These knowledge automatically brings us to Reality, that is Tawhid, the Oneness of God.

A Muslim becomes a Believer (Mu’min) only when the knowledge he or she witnessed “finds its way to the heart.” [49:14]

The Mu’min are “those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then never doubt, and struggle with their wealth and lives in the cause of Allah. They are the ones who are truthful in their claim to be Believers. [49:15]

The Believers strive to apply the knowledge they witnessed to all aspects of their life. Their submission to Allah The Exalted is total. They do not dispute what Allah forbids.

The Believers always supplicates to Allah The Exalted “to increase his knowledge” [21:5] to strengthen his belief (imaan) to protect himself from the worship of false gods.

The Believers share their knowledge with others to bring them to the worship of The One True God. They invite others to do good and urge them to keep away from evil.

They perform this task with wisdom and best advice, and reason with others in the most courteous manner. [16:125]

The Believers ‘walk their talk’ by being good examples of right conduct.

As Allah’s representatives, they seek to establish peace and harmony on earth. They regard injustice as a threat to peace, and struggle to restore justice.

May Allah The Merciful bless us all with the gift of being True Believers in Islam.